1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to providing real-time media to end users and consumers. More specifically, the present invention relates to the streaming of real-time content to a media player.
2. Background Art
Optical media players, including Blu-ray players, have revolutionized the content that homes and businesses can access. Optical media players, including Blu-ray players, have vastly evolved from their compact disc (CD) and digital video disc (DVD) predecessors. CDs, for example, are built to accommodate up to seventy-four minutes of two-track audio data and hold a total capacity of 800 Megabytes (MB). Similarly, DVDs can accommodate 4.7 Gigabytes (GB) of data, which allows a viewer to access two hours and fifteen minutes of standard definition (SD) video encoded in an MPEG-2 format. CD and DVD players, which are generally configured to play their respective discs, have proven insufficient to meet the demands of greater picture and sound quality that drive the information age.
Advances in display technology, including plasma display panels (PDPs) and liquid crystal displays (LCDs) have fueled consumers' appetites for high quality video and audio, including, for instance, high-definition (HD) television. A typical HD broadcast, for example, may require a recording capacity of 22 GB or greater for a two-hour period. Consumers want media players that are interactive and can be integrated with broadband services. Optical media players, including Blu-ray players, meet these needs, often in the context of a small device that can be integrated into a home entertainment system.
However, optical media players, including Blu-ray players, cannot stream audio data due to limitations in their file and application architectures. Existing attempts to provide streaming audio data through optical media players, including Blu-ray players, have therefore consisted of leaving static content on a server. The static content is then downloaded to an optical media player in portions.
Unfortunately, these existing attempts to stream static content into optical media players, including Blu-ray players, have created a patchwork of fixes that provide no coherent way for a listener to stream audio data. Thus, while a user can currently download songs and play video on his or her optical media player, including his or her Blu-ray player, a user cannot listen to high-quality live music or spoken word through such a player.
Accordingly, there is a need to overcome the drawbacks and deficiencies in the art by providing a solution that enables the real-time streaming of audio data, including live music and spoken word, to an optical media player, including a Blu-ray player.